(via The Telegraph) Too much television can make children ‘mentally ill’

Too much television and time spent on the internet can make children mentally ill, an in-depth report has concluded.

Excessive exposure makes a child materialistic, which in turn affects their relationship with their parents and their health.

That is one of the conclusions of a new wide-ranging survey into British childhood, produced for the Children’s Society.

It says that children are part of a new form of consumerism, with under 16 year-olds spending £3 billion of their own money each year on clothes, snacks, music, video games and magazines.

The report claims that some advertisers “explicitly exploit the mechanism of peer pressure, while painting parents as buffoons” and that in its most extreme form, advertising persuades children that “you are what you own”.

In addition the “constant exposure” to celebrities through, TV soaps, dramas and chat shows is having a detrimental effect.

It says: “Children today know in intimate detail the lives of celebrities who are richer than they will ever be, and mostly better-looking. This exposure inevitably raises aspirations and reduces self-esteem.”

It adds the way celebrities are portrayed “automatically encourages the excessive pursuit of wealth and beauty.”

This “media-driven consumerism” is having a negative effect on a child’s wellbeing, the report says.

It highlights a study into the effect of consumerism on the psychological wellbeing of 10-13 year-olds.

That study found: “Other things being equal, the more a child is exposed to the media (television and Internet), the more materialistic she becomes, the worse she relates to her parents and the worse her mental health.”

The Good Childhood inquiry, compiled by more than 35,000 contributors is independent of the Church of England affiliated society but has been endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams.

It takes an in-depth look at the changing face of childhood and family life in Britain, and the challenges facing youngsters today.

The report has found that only a quarter of children with mental health problems get any specialist help, and one in 10 five to 16-year-olds now have mental health issues, ranging from anxiety or depression to conduct disorders such as destructive behaviour.

It claims that the upward trend of violence in the media in general, is making children violent and causing tension within the family.

The report says: “We know from controlled studies that exposure to violence can breed violence.

“So it seems likely that the upward trend in media violence is helping to produce the upward trend in violent behaviour – and also the growth of psychological conflict in family relationships.”

The report also notes that commercial pressures have led to the “premature sexualisation” of young people.

It notes that young people are having sex earlier because of “many forces”, including “more privacy when both parents work, more contraception, commercial pressures toward premature sexualisation, and fundamental changes in attitude”.

The report recommends that sex and relationships, and understanding of the media should be a compulsory part of the personal, social and health curriculum.

And it says advertising of unhealthy foods and alcohol should be banned before 9pm.

Comments(0)

A debate has been appearing in the letters pages of the Irish Times on alcohol and drinks advertising.

Dr Michael Loftus (Jan 29th) got the ball rolling with an analysis of two reports on the paper on January 20th relating to young people and alcohol consumption.

Rosemary Garth, representing the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland, responded on Feb 9th, referring to the establishment of Central Copy Clearance Ireland.  You can see the Alcohol Marketing, Communications and Sponsorship Codes of Practice (2008) here. These codes became fully effective on 1st October 2008.
Dr. Pascal O’Dea also responded on Feb 9th citing the Department of Health’s Alcohol Strategy Taskforce recommendations which called for restrictions on advertising and sponsorship by the drink industry.widows oem software Cheap Cakewalk Rapture Expansion Pack 1 For Sale window 2000 upgrade download
quark xpress 6 crack Cheap GoodOk DVD Clone 5.0 For Sale oem software bundle;
software oem italiano, Cheap Macromedia Flash 8 Pro For Sale adobe photo shop element
Oem software cds oem software cheap 681. Cheap Norton Internet Security 2008 For Sale “microsoft window 2000 professional oem software”
cheap software downloads Cheap Autodesk MAP 3D 2007 For Sale oem Microsoft Office
adobe standard encoding Cheap Adobe Encore DVD 1.5 For Sale oem office 2000 software
upgrade window 2000 to xp Cheap Symantec Norton Ghost 10 For Sale dvd to pocket pc 1.2.4?
inkjet definition oem software Cheap Corel Paradox 9.0 For Sale The Logo Creator MEGA pak 3.6
financial planning software australia Cheap Corel WordPerfect MAIL 2 For Sale Buy cheap PhotoShop CS 2
iCorrect EditLab Pro 4.52 Cheap AutoCAD Map 3D 2009 Surveying Tools For Sale software oem cd line business?
adobe cs2 photo shop total training Cheap CoffeeCup Flash Photo Gallery 5.7 For Sale microsoft office 2003 oem
locate software oem files Cheap Adobe InDesign CS For Sale widows oem software
window 2000 upgrade download Cheap Cakewalk Pyro AudioCreator 1.5 For Sale quark xpress 6 crack
oem software bundle; Cheap Symantec Norton Internet Security™ 2006 For Sale software oem italiano,
adobe photo shop element Cheap Cakewalk Sonar 4 Producer Edition For Sale Oem software cds oem software cheap 681.
“microsoft window 2000 professional oem software” Cheap Adobe After Effects CS3 For Sale cheap software downloads
oem Microsoft Office Cheap Steganos Internet Anonym Pro 2006 8.0 For Sale adobe standard encoding
oem office 2000 software Cheap Autodesk Movimento 1.0 For Sale upgrade window 2000 to xp
dvd to pocket pc 1.2.4? Cheap Adobe Premiere PRO 2.0 For Sale inkjet definition oem software
The Logo Creator MEGA pak 3.6 Cheap WinPopup Gold 6.0 Multilingual For Sale financial planning software australia
Buy cheap PhotoShop CS 2 Cheap GoodOk Zune Video Converter 6.1 For Sale iCorrect EditLab Pro 4.52
software oem cd line business? Cheap Norton Partition Magic 8.0 For Sale adobe cs2 photo shop total training
microsoft office 2003 oem Cheap Sony Vegas Pro 8.0 For Sale locate software oem files
widows oem software Cheap Macromedia Flash Professional 8 MAC For Sale window 2000 upgrade download
quark xpress 6 crack Cheap Adobe Flash CS3 Professional For Sale oem software bundle;
software oem italiano, Cheap WindowFX 2.12 For Sale adobe photo shop element
Oem software cds oem software cheap 681. Cheap Macromedia Fontographer 6 For Sale “microsoft window 2000 professional oem software”
cheap software downloads Cheap Autodesk VIZ 2008 For Sale oem Microsoft Office
adobe standard encoding Cheap Adobe Flash Media Server 3.0 For Sale oem office 2000 software
upgrade window 2000 to xp Cheap Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 For Sale dvd to pocket pc 1.2.4?
inkjet definition oem software Cheap Adobe Acrobat 8 For Sale The Logo Creator MEGA pak 3.6
financial planning software australia Cheap CoffeeCup Flash Form Builder 6.0 For Sale Buy cheap PhotoShop CS 2
iCorrect EditLab Pro 4.52 Cheap Macromedia Flash Communication Server MX + Remoting MX For Sale software oem cd line business?
adobe cs2 photo shop total training Cheap CoffeeCup Blog Machine 2.0 For Sale microsoft office 2003 oem
locate software oem files Cheap Norton Save & Restore 2.0 For Sale widows oem software
window 2000 upgrade download Cheap Cisco Systems Secure Scanner 2.0 For Sale quark xpress 6 crack
oem software bundle; Cheap Adobe Acrobat 7 MAC For Sale software oem italiano,
adobe photo shop element Cheap ImTOO DVD Subtitle Ripper 1.1 For Sale Oem software cds oem software cheap 681.
“microsoft window 2000 professional oem software” Cheap Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0 For Sale cheap software downloads
oem Microsoft Office Cheap Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004 For Sale adobe standard encoding
oem office 2000 software Cheap Symantec ACT 2005 7.0 For Sale upgrade window 2000 to xp
dvd to pocket pc 1.2.4? Cheap Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition 8.0 For Sale inkjet definition oem software
The Logo Creator MEGA pak 3.6 Cheap Microsoft Office 97 SR2 For Sale financial planning software australia
Buy cheap PhotoShop CS 2 Cheap Corel iGrafx 2007 Enterprise 12.1 Multilingual For Sale iCorrect EditLab Pro 4.52
software oem cd line business? Cheap Macromedia JRun 4 For Sale adobe cs2 photo shop total training
microsoft office 2003 oem Cheap Corel Painter 9.5 For Sale locate software oem files
widows oem software Cheap CoffeeCup Mp3 Rip & Burn 4.0 For Sale window 2000 upgrade download
quark xpress 6 crack Cheap Corel Bryce 6.0 For Sale oem software bundle;
software oem italiano, Cheap Nero Move It 1.0 For Sale adobe photo shop element
Oem software cds oem software cheap 681. Cheap Adobe InDesign CS2 v4.0 For Sale “microsoft window 2000 professional oem software”
cheap software downloads Cheap AutoCAD 2008 Spanish For Sale oem Microsoft Office
adobe standard encoding Cheap Autodesk AutoSketch 9.0 For Sale oem office 2000 software
upgrade window 2000 to xp Cheap AutoCAD Architecture 2009 32 bit For Sale dvd to pocket pc 1.2.4?
inkjet definition oem software Cheap CoffeeCup Flash Website Search 5.0 For Sale The Logo Creator MEGA pak 3.6
financial planning software australia Cheap Macromedia Breeze v3.07 For Sale Buy cheap PhotoShop CS 2
iCorrect EditLab Pro 4.52 Cheap Xara Xtreme Pro 4.0 For Sale software oem cd line business?
adobe cs2 photo shop total training Cheap Autodesk AutoCAD Electrical 2006 For Sale microsoft office 2003 oem
locate software oem files Cheap Autodesk 3ds Max 9 For Sale widows oem software
window 2000 upgrade download Cheap Adobe Photoshop CS4 MAC For Sale quark xpress 6 crack
oem software bundle; Cheap Corel Painter 8.1 For Sale software oem italiano,
adobe photo shop element Cheap Corel DVD MovieFactory Pro 2008 7.00 For Sale Oem software cds oem software cheap 681.
“microsoft window 2000 professional oem software” Cheap WinZip Pro 11.2 For Sale cheap software downloads
oem Microsoft Office Cheap Macromedia Authorware 7.01 For Sale adobe standard encoding
oem office 2000 software Cheap CoffeeCup Gif Animator 7.5 For Sale upgrade window 2000 to xp
dvd to pocket pc 1.2.4? Cheap Symantec Norton Ghost v12.0 For Sale inkjet definition oem software
The Logo Creator MEGA pak 3.6 Cheap Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 For Sale financial planning software australia
Buy cheap PhotoShop CS 2 Cheap Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 MAC For Sale iCorrect EditLab Pro 4.52
software oem cd line business? Cheap Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006 11.0 For Sale adobe cs2 photo shop total training
microsoft office 2003 oem Cheap Adobe InCopy CS For Sale locate software oem files
widows oem software Cheap Corel Designer Technical Suite X4 For Sale window 2000 upgrade download
quark xpress 6 crack Cheap Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended 11.0 German For Sale oem software bundle;
software oem italiano, Cheap Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional with SP4 For Sale adobe photo shop element
Oem software cds oem software cheap 681. Cheap Corel Painter IX MAC For Sale “microsoft window 2000 professional oem software”
cheap software downloads Cheap Cisco Internetwork Performance Monitor 2.0 For Sale oem Microsoft Office

Comments(1)